Madison Area Lyme Support Group

Bloomberg Businessweek, one of the top business publications in the US, this week took a look at the question of the Lyme disease vaccine.

Currently dubbed VLA15, the vaccine is being developed by Pfizer, Inc, in partnership with French drug maker Valneva SE. In the final phase of clinical trials, it is expected to be available to the public in 2026.

Bloomberg published the article this week under the following headline:

The article gives background on Lymerix, the failed Lyme disease vaccine from 20 years ago. But it doesn’t paint an accurate picture of why the Lyme community continues to view the question of a Lyme vaccine with skepticism.

For that side of the story, I suggest you read the following blogs we posted five years ago. Our concerns haven’t changed.

Stricker: Lyme vaccine failed because safety was ignored

“Powerful” patients axed Lyme vaccine? Baloney!

Important background on Lyme vaccine controversy

As Dr. Raphael Stricker stated in the above-referenced article:

“The Lymerix vaccine failed in large part because valid safety concerns were ignored, and future variations of Lymerix that whitewash these concerns risk the same negative outcome.”

Last week, Lyme Disease Association President Pat Smith told me she had an extensive interview with Kristen Brown, a co-author of the Bloomberg article. Smith said she gave the reporter documents and names of credentialed individuals who would be able to provide information and perspectives on the Lymerix experience, including a private meeting LDA had with the Food and Drug Administration.

However, Smith said, “None of that information appears to be referenced in this article.”

Instead, the article devotes only a few lines to Smith, quoting her as saying: “We are interested in the possibility of a vaccine. The issue is the safety and efficacy.”

That is certainly putting it mildly.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President of LymeDisease.org. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide, and of the forthcoming title Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

_________________

**Comment**

Stay tuned for the ongoing saga of the dangerous and ineffective Lyme “vaccine” that gives people Lyme-like symptoms.

I highly recommend Weintraub’s book, “Cure Unknown, Inside the Lyme Epidemic,” as truly very little has changed since it was penned in 2009 (isn’t that sad?).  Weintraub highlights important history and facts every Lyme/MSIDS patient needs to understand.  It’s heavy.  It isn’t fun.  But it’s true.